


One Hell of a Barista

by glutenfreechexmix



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Concerts, Don't Examine This Too Closely, F/M, Female Pronouns for Grell Sutcliff, Fluff, Grell Sutcliff and William T. Spears are friends, Grell Sutcliff is trans this is not up for debate, Mild Sexual Content, Sebastian Michaelis is not a creep, Singer Grell Sutcliff, Slice of Life, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27978609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glutenfreechexmix/pseuds/glutenfreechexmix
Summary: Grelle starts her new job at the coffee shop owned by the Phantomhive family, but doesn't expect the appearance of her oh-so-handsome manager, Sebastian! Oh, the drama! The intrigue!
Relationships: Sebastian Michaelis/Grell Sutcliff
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	One Hell of a Barista

**Author's Note:**

> This is really dumb so don't expect too much out of it, it's not going to get more serious until later on!

Grelle certainly thought she knew what she was getting into when she started working at the local coffee shop. It was a cozy enough place, settled into the streets of London. It had been named Phantomhive Coffee, likely oh-so-cleverly after the owner, Vincent Phantomhive. Despite the title, the place was mostly occupied by bookworms and college students who would give their order, and then bury themselves in their novel or laptop, seemingly lost to the world until the barista called their name, at which point they would lazily get up and grab their coffee with a soft “thank you” and then go sit back down, back in their own little world.

She had not anticipated, however, the appearance of her manager.

She sat down, prepared for her interview, in the breakroom of the coffee shop, hands folded politely in her lap.

She’d worn her best blouse and red jacket along with her heeled boots, and had done her hair and makeup in a way that she thought of as subtle yet eye-catching. She couldn’t help but smile at herself in the mirror when she was finished, twirling around and bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly. What a stunning woman.

She had had to wait a few minutes for her manager to arrive, and while she did, she looked around the breakroom. The whole place had an offbrand Starbucks aesthetic, with the green, brown and white being replaced with red, black and white instead. They were some of her favorite colors though, so she didn’t mind. The uniforms she’d seen on the employees were oddly fancy, however- maidlike for the women and butlerlike for the men, with aprons incorporated into the outfit. It struck her as a bit odd, however she certainly wasn’t going to complain. The pay of this privately-owned business was quite generous, even for an entry-level employee like herself.

When the door to the breakroom finally opened, she looked up with a pleasant smile, only to have it drop off her face immediately when she saw her manager for the first time.

He was tall, very tall, and slender. His face was elegant yet masculine, with bright red eyes that met her gaze calmly. His hair was black, and hung around his head in a somewhat unruly, but clearly   
deliberate fashion. His expression was unwavering, a calm, pleasant smile.

“Good afternoon, Miss Sutcliff. I’m glad you could make it,” he said. His voice was smooth, but carried clearly through the room.

Grelle nearly fell over as she scrambled to her feet, then tried to regain her confidence. “Ah, you’re here! It’s so very nice to meet you, Mr…?”

“Sebastian Michaelis. It’s a pleasure.” He reached out, and she shook his hand. He had a firm, solid grip, and she tried to make hers as strong as possible to compensate. Glancing down at their interlocked hands, she noticed he was wearing black nail polish.

“Please, sit down,” he continued, stepping aside and gesturing at the seat.

Grelle sat down a bit too quickly, prompting him to quirk one eyebrow slightly.

“Let’s begin, shall we?” She said in an attempt to cover it up.

“Yes, of course.” He looked down at the small stack of papers he had in his hand.

The interview went by seemingly in a flash, and she was only paying enough attention to answer his questions and sign the appropriate papers. She hoped her face wasn’t reacting to how flustered she felt, just being in a room with him. She noticed a lot of little things about him- how his Adam’s apple moved as he talked, how his hair fell across his face whenever he shifted his head, how his bright eyes scanned across the papers in his hands. He was truly one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen- not that she’d been around many men recently, besides her flatmate William.

When they were done, they both stood up. Sebastian shook her hand again, just as firmly and calmly, and opened the door for her.

“We’ll be calling you in a few days.” He said flatly. She walked out, going past him, and kept her eyes glued forward. 

The coffee shop was quiet as she walked out, so she could hear her heels clacking on the tile floor. The only thing that caught her eye enough for her to bother looking at it was a boy, about 13, who sat at a table by himself, glued to a newspaper. She cocked her head at him as she went past, noticing an eyepatch over his right eye. Despite his appearance, he didn’t kick his legs or shift around like you’d expect a child to. He sat completely still, the only movement being his eyes scanning across the paper, oddly enough, reminding her of Sebastian.

She pushed open the glass doors, sighing as she stepped out into the rain. Part of the reason why she’d chosen this particular coffee shop was because it was only a few streets down from her flat that she shared with Will, so it wasn’t too much of a pain to walk. 

Not that it was particularly pleasant on a rainy, gloomy day like this. She pulled her coat up over her head as she made her way down the street, cursing herself for not bringing an umbrella with her. It took her only about 10 minutes to get home, but it might as well have been an hour for how thoroughly soaked she got. 

She opened the door to her flat, squeezing her eyes shut and silently praying that Will wouldn’t be home. 

Her prayers went unanswered, however, when a familiar dry voice called from the bedroom- “Don’t even think about stepping into this house without taking off your coat and your shoes. I can hear them sloshing around from here.” 

Grelle groaned, slipping off her coat and hanging it up on their makeshift indoor clothesline (that went straight across the middle of the living room) to dry. She took off her shoes as well, hoping that Will wouldn’t notice the small puddle left behind. Now in just her socks, she stepped inside, flipping her long scarlet hair over her shoulder and wringing it out.   
Will’s face appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, and he looked down his nose at her. “The interview. How’d it go?”

“Ah, it went swimmingly!” She chirped, deciding against mentioning her reaction to her manager. She turned away from Will, fidgeting with her jacket on the clothesline. “They’ll be calling me in a few days.”

“I see.” He came up beside her, lightly smacking her hand away so he could arrange the jacket himself. She sighed softly and stepped back, letting him arrange it as meticulously as possible. For a flat with so little space, he made sure everything was organized very deliberately, down the the glasses in the cabinets and the blankets on the beds (not that either of them had a bedroom to themselves- the one bedroom barely had space for the two twin beds and Will’s desk). 

It certainly made it difficult for Grelle to bring anyone home. She hadn’t even tried for at least a year, though, not after the Arthur fiasco. 

Will might have been a bit of an arrogant prick, but he was also the only one to comfort her after that. Even as he lectured her about the importance of being careful, he’d sat next to her and let her cry into his shoulder for hours. She definitely owed him for that, so she put up with his quirks.

Once he was done arranging the jacket and fixing the cushions on the couch, he went back to the bedroom and sat back down at his desk. She followed him, taking some more new, not soaking-wet clothes and going into the small bathroom to change. She looked at herself in the mirror, shaking her head when she noticed how tangled her hair had gotten. She brushed it out once she was done changing, and stepped out of the bathroom. She found Will still sitting at his desk. He’d likely been there all day, only getting up when she got home, the hard-working bastard.

“Don’t you think you should go out, Will?” She asked, crouching next to the desk and resting her chin on her hands, batting her eyelashes at him. He glanced sideways at her and pushed up his glasses disdainfully.

“Why on Earth would I do that?” He said with a sigh. “I have work to do.”

“And so will I, soon! Why don’t we make this our last bit of fun before settling into the daily grind?” She grinned at him brightly. 

His eyes darted around her face, clearly debating. After a moment, he reached out and closed his laptop, pushing up his glasses again. “Hypothetically, where would you want to go?”

“Just for a walk, nothing too intense!” Grelle felt her grin getting wider. 

He stood up, fixing the collar of his shirt, and looked at her calmly. “Then let’s go. Remember to bring an umbrella this time.”

“Ah, yes!” She bounced on the balls of her feet and brought her hands to her chest in fists. “Thank you, Will!” She threw her arms around his neck and planted a friendly smooch on his cheek.  
He wiped it off with his sleeve, rolling his bright green eyes and stepping past her. She followed him, chattering about nothing.

Grelle wondered if he knew the real reason why she’d asked him to spend some time with her.


End file.
